1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a PC (Personal Computer) card slot and an information processing device using a PC card and more particularly to the PC card slot capable of preventing the PC card being pulled out carelessly or accidentally while the PC card is being accessed or power is being supplied to the PC card and the information processing device using the same.
The present application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-031558 filed on Feb. 9, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional information processing device having a PC card interface such as a portable personal computer (hereafter referred to as a notebook personal computer) is not provided with a hardware-based mechanism that can inform a user that a PC card is being accessed.
Therefore, there are the following problems with conventional technology:
1. A user pulls out the PC card carelessly or accidentally from a PC card slot while data is being written in or read from the PC card such as a memory card or a like embedded in the PC card slot in the conventional information processing device having the PC card interface such as the notebook personal computer, thus causing data corruption in the PC card.
2. The information processing device such as the notebook personal computer stalls when the PC card is pulled out from the PC card slot before a software termination procedure for the PC card interface is completed if no measures against insertion and withdrawal of hot lines are installed in the conventional information processing device having the PC card interface, an OS (Operating System) or a driver.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a PC (Personal Computer) card slot and an information processing device using the PC card slot which are capable of having a user recognize a state of a PC card so that the user should not pull out the PC card carelessly or accidentally from the PC card slot during access to the PC card or before completion of software termination procedures.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a PC card slot including:
a PC card interface; and
a light emitting unit which goes on or off in response to a state of a PC card connected to the PC card interface.
In the foregoing, a preferable mode is one wherein the light emitting unit is an LED (Light Emitting Diode) or an electro-luminescence device or an electro-luminescence device.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing device including:
a PC card slot being equipped with a PC card interface and with a light emitting unit which goes on or off in response to a state of a PC card connected to the PC card interface.
In the foregoing, it is preferable that the light emitting unit is an LED.
Also, it is preferable that the information processing device is a portable personal computer.
With the above configurations in which the PC card interface and the light emitting unit connected to the PC card interface which goes on or off in response to the state of the PC card are provided, the following effects can be obtained:
(1) Data corruption in the PC card can be prevented. That is, since the user can recognize by illumination of the LED that the PC card is being used, careless and accidental pulling-out of the PC card from the PC card slot during access to the PC card or before completion of software termination procedures can be prevented.
(2) Stalling of the information processing device can be prevented. That is, since the user can recognize by the illumination of the LED that the PC card is now in operation, the stalling that would occur if the PC card is pulled out before the completion of the software termination procedures for the PC card in the information processing device in which measures against insertion and withdrawal of hot lines have not been installed.